The rest of the train ride, Annika spent experimenting with this new ability. Using inanimate objects, she sent them from one side of the compartment to the other. The ease in which she was able to do so, nagged at her. Any other time after her initial manifestation of a new facet of her abilities it had taken weeks, sometimes months for her to gain control. She kept her concerns to herself, not wanting to deflate the buoyant mood of her team at her success. Should have known that she wouldn’t be able to hide her worry from Daniel. When they disembarked at the station, and the others were doing a scout around for a secluded place for her to practice on a larger scale, Daniel held her back.

Taking a seat on one of the platform benches he tugged her onto his lap. "What’s up?"

Annika didn’t bother trying to deny it. "There’s something different about this power."

"Different how?"

"Everything’s different," she sighed, loving the security that his arms always offered her. "How quickly I’ve mastered it. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything except waving my hand about. I’d expect to be feeling tired or drained from using it, but I don’t. How it conveniently manifested even though none of us were in mortal danger…It just feels wrong."

Daniel gently soothed her worries and fear through their bond. Felt something else. "So what’s the ‘but’?"

"I don’t feel any malice or intent to harm…" She struggled to find the right words. "I feel like a puppet, and I have no idea who is pulling the strings."

"If it doesn’t feel right to use this new ability," he said quietly, "then you know that no one will hold it against you if you don’t."

"They’ll be disappointed."

He shrugged. "They’ll get over it."

"I found the perfect spot!" Jack bounded over to them. "An abandoned warehouse down the street."

Annika took one look at her friend’s hopeful face, at his relief that this mission would be over much sooner than they’d originally anticipated and felt like a selfish heel for even considering not putting this gift to use. Daniel’s hand closed over hers in silent support as he felt her make her decision. "Well, let’s go then."

For the next half hour Annika experimented with her ability. First transporting them individually to different parts of the warehouse that was the size of a plane hanger. Then she sent them in pairs and then all four of them.

"Um…Casper, are you gonna’ try joining us over here?" Jack called from the corner of the room, giving his hands a shake to stop the tingles. "Won’t be no good if you can’t come with us."

"Oh, good point," she grinned sheepishly. Wondering if she would sense anything if she used the trick on herself, she carefully twisted her hand. Very faint pins and needles coated her body and the next moment she found herself standing next to Daniel.

After doing a few more trial runs of all of five of them, they were ready to move on to the next part of their plan. Annika was terrified of teleporting them to a place that she had never seen before. And having never been to Washington in her life she couldn’t even send them to one of the tourist attractions or monuments in the Capitol city. She shuddered at the thought of the possible mishaps that could occur, the least of which was having them rematerialize literally in the middle of a solid object like a wall or a table. So they agreed that they would use the more conventional mode of transport until after they had dealt with the Jaffa and then Annika could ‘zap’ them back to the museum.

They split up into two groups. Jack, Sam and Annika caught a taxi heading for the Irish Pub where they knew that the drunk banker had been murdered. Daniel and Teal’c hopped into a separate one, their ‘assignment’ to make sure that there wasn’t a second Jaffa sent to stop Sam’s mom from getting into that fateful taxi.

Jack clasped Sam’s clammy hand in his as the cab pulled in to the curb. "You ready?"

The major nodded a little stiffly, climbing out. "As I’ll ever be."

Annika paid for the fare, then joined her teammates standing off to one side, sneaking a look through the window of the pub. Instinct made her envelope them all in the Nox invisibility trick, despite the risks of any passersby witnessing the vanishing act.

Sam nodded to the third booth at a man downing a whiskey. "That’s Malone."

"Casper, please tell me that warm fuzzy feeling was you making us go Marco," Jack said quietly.

"Yep. Why?"

"’Cause I think I found the Jaffa and he knows we’re here." He pointed to the back of the room where a hulk of a man was surreptitiously scanning the room, his gaze landing on the window where the three of them were standing. His expression puzzled at seeing no one.

"He must be sensing the naquadah," Sam murmured.

"Well, that’s a pain in the butt," Annika huffed. "We can’t sneak up on him."

"No, but maybe we can draw him out." Jack was already adapting their plan. "Carter, why don’t you go stand on the other side? See what he does when he realizes there are two naquadah ‘pulls’."

The major was already stepping away, sticking close to the wall to keep out of the paths of the unaware pedestrians.

The Jaffa’s eyes immediately followed Sam’s direction then darted back to Jack. Puzzlement turned to suspicion. He glanced at Mahone, who was downing another drink, then fished out an amulet from beneath his shirt. The warrior seemed to be weighing his choices. Another glance at the banker, then he stood up and started striding towards the front entrance.

"Come on, just a few more steps," Jack muttered. "Casper, you ready to bring him into the fold the second he steps out?"

"Yep." Annika had her hand poised, all but the last turn of the weave pattern to be executed.

There were a few raised eyebrows when door swung open and no one appeared to enter. The patrons put it down to the wind, returning to drown their sorrows or celebrate the end of the day, in their choice of drink. The Jaffa intent on the banker didn’t notice.

The trio silently and quickly crept to the back of the establishment. Jack pushed open the bathroom door. Having agreed from the beginning that this was Sam’s call, she slipped into the room first followed by Jack and Annika brought up the rear.

The Jaffa had moved those last few feet quicker than any of then had anticipated. He was barely a step away from the drunk banker. Sam reacted instantly firing her raised zat’ at the warrior’s back, then rushed forward to catch his body, easing his fall so it didn’t make a noise.

The zing of the weapon however, had penetrated the pickled brain of Mahone and he wobbly began to turn around to find out what the unfamiliar noise had been. "Wha’ wash that?"

Jack gestured to Annika to let him out of the invisible fold and to bring the stunned Jaffa in. The redhead, who had maintained her partial second weave, completed the last finger flick and the Jaffa disappeared. With her other hand she let go of the fold of air surrounding Jack.

Now fully visible the colonel pretended that he had just entered the room and casually walked up to one of the urinals. Gave a nod of acknowledgement to the banker. "How’s it going?"

"Good. Ya’ hear sumthin’?" Mahone slurred. His torso was now partly twisted around, looking over his shoulder, not noticing that his motor functions were so impaired that he was now peeing all over his shoes.

"Like what?" Jack unzipped his trousers. Tried not to wince when a second zing clearly echoed around the room.

Sam had had no choice but to fire the zat’ again in the kill shot, the Jaffa had been coming out of his stunned state and begun struggling against the arms that had him pinned down.

"Like that!" Mahone spun around fully this time.

Sam only just managed to duck out of the way of the arc of urine, rolling the Jaffa away to stop the banker from tripping over the invisible body.

"Whoa, buddy, watch where you’re spraying!" Jack also had to jump out of range of the yellow stream. "They switched channels on the bar TV to some sci-fi show. Star-something-or-other. Sound effects are pretty cool, huh?"

Mahone blinked dazedly at the explanation, found it acceptable. "Oh, yeah." He fumbled at his zip. "I don’t watch that crap."

Jack shrugged, turned back to his own business. "To each his own."

The banker, having managed to find enough coordination to work his zip, tottered from the room. As the door flapped closed Sam fired her zat’ for the third and final time.

Though Jack hadn’t actually used the facilities he had the sudden urge to wash his hands. When he turned away from the sink, drying his hands on a paper towel, Annika had released the fold of hiding air and he saw Annika resting a comforting hand to his pale fiancée’s shoulder. "Hey, honey, you okay?" He crouched down beside her.

Sapphire blues were wracked with pain. Sam gestured to the place where the Jaffa’s body had been. "It doesn’t help."

"C’mere." He hauled her to him, hugging her close, feeling her hot silent tears soak into his shirt.

Annika gave the couple what privacy she could, keeping watch by the door to make sure no one walked in catching them unawares. She checked in with Daniel using their bond. The single tug he responded with told her that they were still on standby, waiting for Sam’s mom to finish up at the restaurant.

It was a few minutes before Sam was able to compose herself, but eventually she let Jack pull her to her feet. The subdued group made their way out of the pub, slowly heading for the meeting point with Daniel and Teal’c.

They had found the restaurant without any problems and even had a pretty good view of the inside. So far Carrie hadn’t shown any sign of leaving despite having glanced at her watch five times in as many minutes. Annika had checked in with him, her triple tug informing him that things had worked out as planned from their end and Mahone was by now irresponsibly behind the wheel. Which meant time was becoming an issue, and both he and Teal’c were fighting down growing anxiety. It wasn’t helping their temperaments that the sidewalk was full of bustling citizens, jostling their way on their way home from work. Nor that there was a group of children, hyped up on sugary sodas running riot around the commuters, having decided that this corner was the perfect place to play.

Daniel bit back a snap of annoyance as one of the children bumped into him. Where in hell are their parents? Didn’t they care that their kids were running wild around the busy streets? Brushed the incident aside as he refocused his attention on the restaurant. To his relief, Sam’s mom had just left payment for her drink and began weaving her way through the tables to the exit. As she stepped out onto the pavement, her expression wasn’t happy; annoyed yet resigned at once again having been stood up by her husband. Uh oh. Rather than hail a taxi, she joined the queue a little way down the street. "Carrie’s catching a bus."

"Perhaps something will intervene to make her change her mind," Teal’c tried to sound hopeful, didn’t really succeed.

"In the next ten seconds?" Daniel’s stomach twisted with dread. The city bus was already pulling into the curb. Carrie had to get into a taxi. His mind flashed back to the museum where Annika had stepped in and comforted him…Oh, God, were they supposed to step in here as well? He couldn’t do it. It was one thing to have his wife comfort him after the fact, but to physically step in and ‘make’ Carrie get in the taxi that would be her coffin? Not a friggin’ chance in hell. The timeline could stay screwed up!

Teal’c was equally horrified, having drawn the same conclusion. He scanned the interior of the bus hoping with every fiber of his being that it would be full, unable to take on any more passengers. His hoped plunged at the seats that were half empty. He braced himself. As First Prime he had killed many an innocent person under the orders of Apophis and he lived with the guilt of their deaths everyday. However adding his friend’s mother to that list would be impossible to bear. Something colliding with his leg distracted his attention. One of the children had dodged away from his brother and smacked into him. "Desist this tomfoolery," he growled, unable to restrain his irritation at the situation from showing.

The child raised wide eyes up at the Jaffa whom must have seemed like a giant to him. "Sorry, mister!" He grinned cheekily, sucking on the straw of the oversized Coke cup gripped in his hands. Unperturbed by Teal’c’s stoic gaze he dashed away.

Both men found their gazes following the child’s retreat, though they knew they had more important things to worry about than an unruly brat. Suddenly the child tripped over his own feet. The cup jarred from his hands and went flying through the air, spilling its contents all over Sam’s mom.

The mother of the boy, who happened to be in front of Carrie in the bus line, only now seemed to realize that her children were running amok. Her arm shot out to grab her son. "Harry! Apologize to the lady."

The boy was more upset about not having a drink anymore than ruining Carrie’s suit. "Sorry, lady. Didn’t mean it," he mumbled.

"That’s alright. It’s just a perfect end to a perfect day," Carrie sighed, flicking sticky drops from her arms. She eyed the group of five children who had flocked to their mother’s side as the bus ground to a halt. Saw that four of them still had almost full plastic cups of sodas. She spun away from the bus stop, raising her hand towards the street. "Taxi!"

Daniel and Teal’c watched with baited breath as a Yellow Cab pulled in behind the bus and the blonde woman got in. When the taxi merged back into the traffic, the two men exchanged relieved yet tormented looks. Without a word they started jogging down the road. The scene of the accident was only two blocks away. Depending on the traffic lights controlling the flow of the cars, they may be able to make it in time. They had just rounded the second corner when there was a sickening screech of tires and the loud bang of impact from the intersection up ahead. The pair stopped running. Even from this distance they could see the mangled wreck of the two cars, one a white sedan, the other the canary yellow of a taxi. With heavy hearts they approached, being jostled by the morbidly curious citizens who couldn’t stop their compulsion to view the wreckage.

The emotional turmoil of the last two days boiled within Daniel. The sight of so many onlookers, none of who had lifted a finger to check if the passengers had survived, angered him. Seeing a tourist clicking off photos made him snap. He grabbed the camera from the man’s hand and smashed it to the ground. "This is not a damned tourist attraction. Make yourself useful and call nine-one-one."

The protest the tourist was about to give over the destruction of his property died at the cold fury in the archaeologist’s eyes. Silently he backed away, melting into the crowd.

Teal’c, who was no less affected by the day’s events, was also glaring at the bystanders. "If you are not going to assist then be on your way."

Though he knew it was a pointless exercise, Teal'c reached in to press gentle fingers to Carrie’s neck, searching for a pulse. To his surprise, at his touch, blue eyes flickered open. "Daniel Jackson, Carrie Carter is alive."

Daniel had managed to get the front door open and was trying to stem the blood flow of a gash to the unconscious driver’s neck. Holding his fingers firmly over the wound, he wiggled back a little so he could see the woman that the newspaper report claimed had died instantly. Said the first thing that popped in his head. "The paramedics are on their way. You’ll be okay." Glassy eyes blinked back at him and he could see that she knew it was a lie. He gave her a sad smile. "Is there something you’d like us to pass along to anyone?"

She was relieved that he didn’t try to deny that she was dying, wasting the few precious moments she had left. "Tell my husband this was not his fault. He’ll blame himself. I understand his work is important."

"We’ll let Jacob know…" The name slipped out of Daniel’s mouth before he realized it.

Carrie’s face registered surprise but she didn’t call him on it. "My children…" She sucked in a shallow breath. "…the lights of my life. Tell them that I love them…" Her now sluggish mind jumped to a different tangent. "All I ever wanted was to see them happy…to see if their dreams would come true…"

Teal’c spoke quietly. "Mark will become a successful lawyer, happily married and father of two children. Samantha will follow in the footsteps of her father into the Air Force. A highly decorated Major who will save the lives of many, a true hero of your people."

Even though her brain function was shutting down, she realized that the dark man speaking so sincerely mentioned too many specifics details of her family’s life to be merely conjuring up white lies to placate a dying woman. "How do you know this?"

"Because we come from the future and we work alongside Sam everyday." Daniel figured telling a version of the truth in these circumstances was more than appropriate, especially if it would give Sam’s mom some peace by knowing her daughter was happy. "Fourteen years from now a piece of technology will bring us together and all of our dreams come true."

Carrie smiled. She opened her mouth to speak but the words never passed her lips. Tenderly Teal’c shut the lids of her now lifeless eyes.

The sound of approaching sirens intruded on the silence that had descended in the car.

"We should get going," Daniel said softly. He carefully removed the pressure of his fingers from the driver’s neck. Noted that the flow of blood was now just a trickle as the wound had been given a chance to start clotting. Absently it occurred to him that his first aid had probably save the man’s life.

Teal’c gave a single nod. As he stood up, he noticed that Carrie’s skirt had ridden up high on her thighs. Carefully he tugged it back down, giving her body the decency it deserved.

Silently the two men hurried down the street, stopping at a public restroom to wash the blood off their hands, before making their way to the rendezvous point.

Jack, Sam and Annika were waiting anxiously at a nearby park. Sam sprang to her feet at their approach, immediately sensing by their expressions that something besides the accident had happened.

"What went wrong?"

The two men hesitated, taking in their friend's already red-rimmed eyes.

"Nothing went wrong…" Daniel sucked in a deep breath. "Um, Sam, we’ve got a message from your mom."

They launched into a description of what had happened, Sam and the others listening with astonishment.

Teal’c finished up. "Your mother’s last thoughts were of you. She rests in peace knowing that you fulfilled your dreams."

Another round of tears welled as Sam threw her arms around Daniel and Teal’c’s necks. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "For being there…for staying until…thank you."

"It was our honor, Major Carter." Teal’c returned the hug.

Daniel held his friend tight. "I’m glad we could help."

Sam pulled away, wiping her eyes without one touch of embarrassment. "I guess we should be moving on."

"Okay, everybody draw in close." Annika stepped forward with Jack. "Don’t wanna leave anyone behind."

They all huddled together, each making sure they had a point of contact with each other.

"You sure you can zap us that far all in one hit?" Jack asked.

Annika considered the question, thinking about what she knew about Nox translocation as well as her own established abilities. "I’m pretty sure it’s like my astral traveling, distance doesn’t matter."

"Okie dokie, then zap away."

"Anything?" Jack asked quietly into his radio.

Both Daniel and Teal’c checked in negative. A few seconds later Sam and Annika replied with the same response.

It had only taken a blink of an eye for Annika to translocate them without a hitch back to the museum in Washington. Within a couple of minutes Daniel had entered the next time into the mirror attachment and they had all stepped through, this time ending up in a basement storage room. A few minutes after that Annika had once again worked her magic, sending them almost instantaneously to the quiet suburb of Jack’s old neighborhood. They had done a quick recon around the immediate area to make sure the Jaffa wasn’t already lurking around. Finding no sign of him they again split up. The women were assigned to the house, while the men spread out through the streets, hoping to get to the Jaffa long before he made it anywhere near the O’Neill house.

Jack once again scanned the street, checking the front yards of the quiet suburb for anyone who didn’t belong. Most of the yards were open with only a few shrubs decorating the grass, none big enough for a child, let alone a grown man to hide behind. Moved on to the park across the way. Lots of trees there, but other than a young mother rocking a stroller, with a toddler playing on the swings, there was no one else about.

The Jaffa had paused in mid step with a frown, also sensing the nearby presence of naquadah in a place where there should have been none. His dark gaze landed on the bush Jack was hiding behind a second before the colonel launched himself at the warrior.

Blinded by emotion, it never occurred to Jack to simply use the zat’. His anger and pain was too raw for him to think logically. All he knew was that he had to find a physical release or go mad, and pressing a tiny button of a zat’ just wouldn’t cut it. He crash tackled the Jaffa, his fist connecting hard with the man’s jaw before they even hit the ground.

Though stunned by the attack, the Jaffa’s training kicked in. The fight was brutal; the Jaffa’s enhance strength fighting for his life, pitted against the desperation of Jack struggling for the sanity of his tortured soul.

The instant, incapacitating agony of having his symbiote ripped from his body was so intense he couldn’t even give a yell of pain.

Sucking in heaving breaths, Jack rolled them over, his hand scrabbling for the zat’ that had skidded to the ground in the mêlée. Without a word he pulled the trigger, barely waiting until the weapon had powered up again before firing it again and then for the third time. Shakily he got to his feet to see Daniel and Teal’c standing off to one side. Jack had no idea when they had arrived, but they had their own zats’ ready to fire. He knew that they could have stepped in at any time, stopping the fight. Read in their understanding eyes why they hadn’t. Dusting off his cap, he replaced it on his head. His eyes caught sight of his watch and his heart began to pound. He had hoped that the fight had lasted longer, taking him beyond the time of Charlie’s accident. Glanced off in the distance to where his old house was, swung back to his teammates, then spun on his heel, jogging in the opposite direction. Maybe if he got far enough away he wouldn’t hear the gunshot…It will be easier if I don’t hear it, right? Won’t have to relive it if I don‘t hear the catalyst… Even as he ran, he knew it was a pointless exercise, the sound of a gunshot could echo for miles.

Daniel and Teal’c kept pace behind him, not trying to stop him.

Jack didn’t even pause to think, he belted across the road, passed the mother and toddler and sprinted after the stroller. With speed he never knew he had, he gained on the careening carriage. The baby’s frightened wails at being bounced so abruptly about and the mother’s terrified scream from behind, spurred him even faster. With the drain coming up fast, Jack dove like a baseball player sliding for home base, his hand closing around the bar that held the front wheels. The pram jerked to a halt just centimeters from the edge of the canal.

Over the baby’s cries and the mother’s sob of relief the sound of a gunshot cracked through the air.

Jack was thankful he was already on the ground, for he was sure that his knees would have collapsed beneath him. Barely heard the grateful cries of thanks from the mother as his mind was transported to three blocks away where he knew another mother was now crying for a heartbreakingly different reason. Something in the mother’s voice sounded familiar and it drew him back to reality. Picking himself off the ground it was only now that he really looked at the woman. Masking his shock he yanked the cap down to hide his face and began backing away.

"Wait!" She called to him, holding her now safe infant in her arms while the toddler clung to her legs. "How can I ever repay you?"

Jack just bowed his head and kept walking. "Just happy I could help, ma’am." He hurried away, not giving the woman a chance to get a clear look at his face. Not that Jack had met her yet, but two years from now a proud grandfather would introduce them at a barbecue being held for SGC personnel and their families. Trying to stem the sudden shaking that assaulted his body, he ducked around the corner.

Daniel and Teal’c emerged from the shadows, having moved out of sight the second they realized who the mother was.

The colonel gave them a lopsided grin. "Well, ain’t that a kick in the pants?"

"Did Angie Hammond see your face, O’Neill?" Teal’c asked.

Jack rubbed a weary hand across his eyes. "I don’t think so."

"Are you okay?" Daniel studied the pale pallor of his best friend.

"‘Okay’, isn’t quite how I’d describe myself right now." He glanced back at the woman who was still trying to comfort both of her children. "Save the General’s granddaughter, while…" he cut off gesturing in the direction of his former home. "I suppose there is a sick, twisted, fucked up balance to that."

Before he could voice his theory, from a side street they saw Annika and Sam jogging towards them, Annika having used her bond with Daniel to hone in on their location. The women didn’t mention anything of what they had witnessed at the house, just a curt nod telling the others that it had played out as expected.

Sam saw the bruises forming on Jack’s face, though it was his eyes that she focused on, trying to get a reading of how he was coping. He gave her a reassuring sad smile, pulling her into his arms. The hug was more clingy than what her fiancé normally gave and there was a definite tremble to his limbs, however there was also a strength that told her he was holding himself together, at least for the moment.

"Okay, Casper, do your thing so we can go home."

They all huddled together. If the necessary contact with each other so Annika didn’t accidentally leave someone behind, turned more into a supporting group hug, no one thought to mention it, though they were all grateful for it. Softly Annika counted down and with a twist of her wrist the team once again found themselves in the storage room of the New York museum, standing in front of the quantum mirror.

Waiting for Daniel to dial in the correct date on the attachment, Teal’c rubbed at his stomach, a frown creasing his brow. "If the timeline has been rectified, then why do I still carry a prim’ta within me?"

"Maybe because we are still in the past?" Sam suggested. "It won’t truly be fixed until we go back to the time we belong."

"I guess we’ll know in a few seconds," Annika murmured as the mirror flickered, changing to the museum foyer, though this time it showed the great room from a different angle than the one from 1973.

"It’s done." Daniel stepped back.

"When did you set it to?" Annika asked.

"Well, we’ve been ‘gone’ by my count for two and half days. I’ve made it sixty hours ahead from when we left the Nox planet so we match up with the real time."

"Would a few hours make such a difference?" the colonel queried, he’d been thinking that they would be going back to the day this nightmare had begun.

"Do we really want to take the chance?"

"Nope." Jack quickly shook his head. No way he wanted to have to go through anything like this again. "Sixty hours is fine." He motioned for the others to precede him. "After you."